


the road

by kiyala



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 04:18:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4086397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aichi isn't good at dealing with the attention that comes with being in the Pro League. Kai does what he can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the road

"I want to get away," Aichi murmurs, standing at the window and staring out into the night.

Kai doesn't know what he sees; it's two o'clock in the morning and the lights are off in their apartment. The dim light from the street lamps outside illuminate the raindrops clinging to the window and Aichi's finger as he traces their paths down the glass. He taps his finger against the glass as the drop he's following joins another. Kai waits, not making a sound. 

"Is it asking too much? Maybe I shouldn't have joined the Pro League if I didn't want people to recognise me, but…" he laughs and it's a soft, sad sound as he turns around, looking at Kai. "I just want to go somewhere people won't give us a second thought. Just for a day."

"You want me to go with you?" Kai asks quietly.

Aichi nods once. "We don't have any tournaments for the next few weeks and I thought…"

Kai waits, but Aichi doesn't finish his sentence. It's too dark to see Aichi's expression, but Kai can make out the tired slump of his shoulders, the way his hands are held at his sides. 

"Yeah," he finally says. The strange, tugging sensation that pulled him out of his sleep in the middle of the night in his chest is gone now. Aichi isn't happy yet, but maybe Kai can fix that. It's a good place to start. "Go to bed, Aichi."

"Yeah," Aichi echoes, quieter. He walks to his room, pausing at his door. "Good night, Kai."

«·»

They don't talk about it afterwards. Aichi pretends Kai didn't catch him moping in the dark, and Kai pretends that he didn't lie awake for the rest of the night, trying to think of ways to make Aichi smile. Things continue as normal, until Kai notices the way Aichi tenses when they're out and someone walking past does a double take. It's only natural that people recognise him, when he's taken the Pro League by storm. Even so, Kai can't shake the sudden spikes of protectiveness and the rush of anger at everyone around them when he can tell the attention is bothering Aichi.

He does his research in secret until he has a plan. The rental car is small and old, but it's good enough. It'll get them away, and that's all Kai really cares about. Kai throws his belongings into a bag and watches as Aichi does the same after a moment of silent shock. Neither of them says a word until they're on the road.

"I thought I imagined that conversation," Aichi mumbles, looking out of the passenger side window, his chin resting in his hand. "Maybe I dreamt it or something. Saying that I wanted to go somewhere with you…"

"Do you not want to?" Kai asks, glancing over at him. "I should have asked you—"

"No, I want to." Aichi meets Kai's gaze and gives him a small smile. "Thank you for this."

Nodding, Kai turns his attention back to the road and keeps driving.

«·»

The drive is silent and for the most part, it's the same comfortable kind of silence that they've gotten used to, living with each other. The streets of Paris fall away to the open roads of the countryside and Kai only has a vague idea of where he's going, but Aichi doesn't seem to care about their destination. He sighs as they leave the city, some of the tension leaving his body. As far as Kai is concerned, that alone is worth the cost of the rental car.

They stop to buy lunch and sit in the car to eat, with the windows wound down. They push their seats back and stay like that, even after they finish their food. Aichi turns to Kai with a smile that's starting to look a bit more like his usual. 

"I'm glad we can spend some time together without being interrupted by people," he murmurs. "This never happened in Japan."

"Yes, but back then, you weren't the new Pro League challenger who immediately won your way to the top." Kai's chest swells with pride even as he says it. "That changes things a little."

Aichi smiles tightly. "I wish it hadn't. Do you remember the days when we could sit in Card Capital all afternoon and just have fight after fight?"

"Are you homesick?"

"Yes and no." Aichi sighs. "I miss home, but I think I miss that particular point in time. It wouldn't be the same, even if I do go back. I just keep thinking of all the time we spent together then and… it's different, now. Even my free time doesn't feel like my own. Sometimes, it's like I don't have any privacy at all, when I really need it."

"Do you need me to scare people away for you?" Kai raises an eyebrow. He's done it before, especially when Aichi was still new to this and easily overwhelmed. He'll be glad to do it again.

"I just need…" Aichi gestures between them. "This. You."

"You need me?" Kai asks carefully, watching as Aichi's cheeks turn pink. 

"…Yeah," he finally says. He holds Kai's gaze. "I do."

It's something that Kai has known at some level, for some time now. The confirmation feels like a sudden burst of warmth in his chest that spreads through the rest of him. With a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, he turns his gaze to the empty carpark around them. "I can work with that. I agree that the privacy now is…"

"Necessary?" Aichi suggests, and his fingers are warm as they skim across the back of Kai's hand. 

"Not at all," Kai replies, turning his hand over and linking his fingers with Aichi's. "Company wouldn't stop me from doing this. Preferable, perhaps."

"You'd hold hands with me in public?" Aichi asks, sounding genuinely surprised. 

"When you won the most recent tournament," Kai says, "I didn't spare a thought to the fact that we were being televised, and pulled you into my arms." 

"And didn't let go for a long time," Aichi remembers, smiling. 

"The only thing that would possibly stop me," Kai tells Aichi, squeezing his hand gently, "is if you were uncomfortable with it. Are you?"

"No," Aichi replies immediately. "Not if you're comfortable. Not if you're there."

Leaning in, Kai presses a brief kiss to Aichi's cheek. "Then that's all there is to it. Shall we keep driving?"

"Wait." Aichi takes hold of the front of Kai's shirt and tugs. His lips are soft as they meet Kai's, and he doesn't pull away. Kai kisses back, and they both pull back, smiling at each other. 

"So we're okay?" Aichi asks.

"Yeah." Kai starts the car, and as soon as they're driving, he takes Aichi's hand again. "We're great."


End file.
